


i care too much

by IronSwordStarShield (SweetFanfics)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Hurt Steve, M/M, indirect love confession
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-10-13 06:48:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20578238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetFanfics/pseuds/IronSwordStarShield
Summary: Anonymous asked: loved your earlier love confession fic! how about one where it slips out in the middle of a heated argument, that's always fun :D





	i care too much

Tony notices Steve staggering to his feet and immediately changes directions, turning away from the exit and towards the super soldier who swaying next to the gurney. If you didn't know what Steve's been through in the past five hours, you'd think he was inebriated. But Tony knows _exactly _the kind of hell Steve's put his body through and he's not having any of his stupidity right now.

“Sit down,” he snaps at the blond, forcing him back down with a firm hand on his shoulder. Dazedly, Steve blinks up at him and the finger Tony's pointing at his nose. He goes just a little cross-eyed as he stares. “You’re not going anywhere. You’re _literally _being held together by staples right now. One wrong move and your insides will come pouring out.”

The SHIELD nurse who’d been attending to Steve goes a little green around the gills at his description. Steve's good humor evaporates immediately. A red flush starts to spread over his nose and cheeks, eyes turning flinty as he begins to rise back to his feet. Tony plants a firm hand on his shoulder to keep him in place but Steve struggles to stand as he says, "I’m not staying here. You need me.”

“We need you _alive_!" Tony snaps back. "Not hacked up into pieces.”

“You can’t go either. You’re hurt too.”

Ha, like that’s ever stopped Tony. But this time, his injuries are minor. Tony points at the butterfly bandages on his forehead. “Superficial for once. No concussion. The worst I’ve got right now is a black eye. I’m good to go back into the field. _You _are not.” To drive the point home, Tony rattles off Steve's injuries: the fractured bones, the concussion, the burn wounds, the gaping hole in his belly, and the two fingers the nurses had to stitch back on.

Misery sweeps over Steve for a second before he reins it in. His eyes burn with frustrated anger when he says, “There’s nothing you can do to stop me from going back in.”

Tony moves closer, slaps one hand down on either side of Steve’s hips and demands, “If you can move me, you can leave with me. I’ll fly you out myself.”

Steve’s glitter with determination as he places his hand on Tony's chest. But for once, his strength fails him. He’s just lost too much blood and his body is probably still in shock. Steve stares with horror at his hands as he applies force but Tony doesn't budge. Tony almost pities him. But he’s still too keyed up remembering the sight of Steve staggering to his knees, both hands pressed against his bleeding belly; a futile move given how fast he was bleeding.

His voice is low with anger, “Don’t be a fucking idiot Steve. Stay here. Don’t fall to literal fucking pieces.”

“I can’t stay here. I _won’t_.” Steve hisses back. The desperation twists into something uglier. It reminds Tony of a feral animal that's found itself trapped in an alley, back to the wall. “You can’t make me!”

Unfortunately for Steve, Tony'll accept whatever harm that'll come on him if it means Steve'll stay here and heal up. Even if that means handcuffing Steve to the fucking gurney. “I _can _and I _will_. I care too much about you to let yourself go off half-cocked and kill yourself!” 

Even Tony’s surprised by how much vehemence he puts behind the words, not focusing on what he’s said as much as _how _he’s said it. But it filters in within a few seconds and he feels…embarrassment warming his cheeks but Tony stubbornly holds onto his anger. His _fear_. He stares into Steve’s shocked blue eyes and tells him. “You’re gonna stay here. You’re gonna get better. And you’re _not _going to follow me back.”

Steve looks like someone clocked him over the head with a chair. There's just shock and maybe a little bit of awe. Tony presses his lips together, hesitating a long moment before he continues, in a much lower, huskier voice, “Please Steve. I…If something happens to you I’ll never forgive myself. I…We need you. Whole and unhurt.”

He prays for the words to get through to Steve. Steve breathes in, chest rising and falling as the shock in his eyes softens. Tony finds himself sagging with relief when Steve gives him the smallest of nods, his forehead resting momentarily against Steve’s padded shoulder. “Thank you,” he whispers, letting his lips brush against the high color of Steve’s uniform before he straightens up.

Steve’s hand rests against his chest plate, inches away from the arc reactor. “You be careful too. I…Me too. We need you to be okay too.”

_Oh_. Tony’s heart stutters at the shy, hopeful look Steve gives him. Because his tongue decides to swell to twice its size, Tony can’t speak. But thankfully, he can nod in reply before he walks out of the SHIELD med-bay. 


End file.
